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Man Sentenced To Additional Jail Time For Shooting Boy, 11, With BB Gun

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A man who pleaded guilty to shooting an 11-year-old boy with a BB gun was in court for sentencing Tuesday morning.

Albert Clark, of McKeesport, was sentenced to an additional 11½ to 23 months in jail for shooting the boy in McKeesport last year. He said nothing as he left court.

In December, Clark pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and tampering with evidence. He's already spent 10 months in jail awaiting trial.

Last year, after hearing that a boy, then 11, shot his own 5-year-old son with a BB gun, Clark admitted he went after the 11-year-old, shooting him in the chest.

The boy suffered critical injuries but has since recovered.

"Once he saw the one child he was looking for, [Clark] pointed the gun right to the child's chest and shot him," a witness told KDKA-TV in July of 2015.

Clark's mother, Areda Williams, who is confined to a wheelchair, told Judge Kevin Sasinoski Tuesday that she suffered from schizophrenia and her son battles with bipolar issues, which she thinks were inherited from her.

His lawyer says Clark's mental health and alcohol were to blame for what happened.

"When you have alcohol with bipolar with retaliation because your son got shot, nothing good is going to happen from that," said defense attorney Phil DiLucente. "And now he has things that can help him deal with that. He's learning in jail ways to deal with that."

His attorney also thinks that had Clark not had a record of service to the community, the sentence would have been more severe.

"Now keep in mind this victim almost died," said DiLucente. "The attempted homicide was dismissed. So, I think, being a PTA member, even though he did shoot the BB gun and it almost did kill this young man and he was Lifeflighted, I think being a PTA member and serving his community made a lot of headway today."

Neither the victim nor his family attended Tuesday's hearing.

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